Zimbabwe match to go ahead as planned

England's controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe is set to go ahead after no formal request was submitted to have the game…

England's controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe is set to go ahead after no formal request was submitted to have the game moved to an alternative venue.

England's players had voiced their concerns over playing the February 13th match in Harare earlier this week.

The International Cricket Council spoke with England and Wales Cricket Board officials at a teleconference this morning but no official request to move the game was made.

England's players voiced their unease over the game on both safety and moral grounds but the ICC have repeatedly stated that they will not move the game for political reasons.

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The governments of Australia and Holland, who also have teams due to play in Zimbabwe, have also expressed their displeasure at games going ahead in the country.

The players' statement put pressure back on the ICC to relocate the England fixture but a further decision appears not to have been taken as no official request was made to move the game.

The ECB stated earlier this month that they intend to fulfil their contractual obligations to play in Zimbabwe and there appears to have been no discernible shift in their opinion despite the concerns of their players.

The ECB may, however, chose to wait until the World Cup Organising Committee take charge of the running of the competition from next week.

A request was however made by New Zealand for their scheduled match in Kenya to be moved on security grounds.

This was turned down by the ICC who ruled that there were not sufficient grounds for such a move.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "On the issue of Zimbabwe no country sought to have the matches moved so no decision was required.

"Concerns have been raised by England, Australia and Holland over scheduled matches.

"We need to sit down with these countries to see if adequate security is in place.

"No-one went to the stage of requesting a formal motion.

"In relation to Kenya, New Zealand sought to have the game relocated. This was opposed by Kenya.

"New Zealand provided a report into the security situation but the decision the board made was there were not sufficient reasons to move the game from Kenya."

New Zealand Cricket have previously threatened to boycott the fixture and it is not impossible that the issue could end up in court.